


Inheritance

by MissjuliaMiriam



Series: Garrett Hawke [4]
Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Fluff, Literacy, M/M, Pining, mutual admiration society
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-12
Updated: 2016-05-12
Packaged: 2018-06-08 01:01:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6832468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissjuliaMiriam/pseuds/MissjuliaMiriam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fenris and Garrett have a little talk about things passed down. Set in Act II, after Garrett starts teaching Fenris to read, but before they hook up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Inheritance

**Author's Note:**

> It took me like three tries to produce something even marginally fluffy. I'm so sorry guys, everything I touch turns to angst. Anyway, hope everyone enjoys, and please read the endnote, I have a small announcement!

“Where did you learn to read?”

Garrett sits back, observes the frustrated expression on Fenris's face, and decides for the moment that he'd better not direct his friend's focus back to the lesson. It's not like it's an inappropriate question. “My father taught me,” he says. “I could have learned from the Chantry, I suppose, but... we avoided the Chantries for the most part, and only a few years after I started my schooling I became able to set things on fire with my mind. So.”

“Fair enough,” Fenris says, the lines of tension around his eyes easing as he sits back and sets down the chalk he'd been using to practice his letters. “How old were you?”

“Eight. Fairly young, but not exceptionally so. My father was younger; he remembered very little of his life before the Circle.”

“And he got his education there?”  
Garrett nods. “The Circles have their flaws, but they're probably the most reliable source of education for young people outside of the upper class anywhere in Thedas.”

“Yes,” Fenris says, and lapses into silence, staring down at the writing tablet.

“Is something wrong?”

"No," Fenris murmurs, and looks back up, meeting Garrett's eyes. "I was simply thinking that I find myself grateful to your father, even having never known him."

Garrett frowns slightly, surprised. "How so?"

"He... made you who you are, it seems. His influence is present in much of what you do, how you comport yourself. Or at least, that is the sense I get."

"I'm not much like my father," Garrett says, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. "He was... strong. Cheerful."

"You are both of those things," Fenris says, "at times. And you are also kind, intelligent, wise, protective, and capable. I have heard your father described in small parts by yourself, your mother, and your brother; it seems to me that you are quite a bit like him."

"You never knew him," Garrett points out.

"No," Fenris agrees. "I did not. But I know _you_ , Garrett, and... I believe you are a good man. As you say your father was."

"... Thank you, Fenris. That means a lot," Garrett says. "I think highly of you as well, and your opinion is important to me."

Fenris smiles, leaning in toward Garrett briefly before seeming to realize he's done it and pulling away once more, back to his usual safe distance. He clears his throat. "Let us finish this lesson," he says.

"Of course," Garrett says, and bends his focus back to teaching Fenris the alphabet. He doesn't entirely stop thinking about their conversation, though. He's been compared to his father a lot, but in his own comparisons he's always found himself lacking. Malcolm Hawke was a vivid personality, and Garrett is... subdued. Still, Fenris's words strike a chord. Garrett doesn't know about wise, but he can assess himself well enough -- today at least, when his mood is good and there are no demons clawing at the edges of his mind -- to know that most of the rest of what Fenris says is, at least in part, true. Garrett strives to be the good man that Fenris described _for_ Fenris and the others that he loves.

And he does love Fenris, he thinks, watching as his friend traces out the letters. He's known that much for some time. He loves all of his companions, each in their own way, even those he doesn't always agree with, but Fenris is special. Singular. Garrett has little experience of love, but he knows the warmth in his breast when he has these evenings with Fenris, when he has him by his side in battle or at his back as they travel through the city or beyond its walls. There's a stability in this relationship that is unlike anything he's ever had, and he's grateful for it. Whatever becomes of them, if their relationship goes further than this or not, Garrett thinks he can be content.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are welcome as always!


End file.
